OSHA Finalizes Contentious "Walkaround" Rule

Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) finalized a controversial new rule which OSHA states is for “clarifying the rights of employees to authorize a representative to accompany an Occupational Safety and Health Administration compliance officer during an inspection of their workplace.”

While it has been the right of employers and employees for some time to authorize a current employee to accompany an OSHA inspector during an inspection, this new rule now allows for a company representative to be a non-employee/third-party, potentially including union representatives and/or safety advocates. Specifically, the final rule states, “that a non-employee representative may be reasonably necessary to the conduct of an effective and thorough inspection based upon skills, knowledge, or experience such as knowledge or experience with hazards or conditions in the workplace or similar workplaces, or language or communication skills.”

NRMCA worked with industry partners to oppose the rule, including the Coalition for Workplace Safety (CWS) and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW). Following the rule’s release, the CWS and CDW issued the following statements, respectively:

CWS:
“The rule will serve to distract OSHA from its core mission–ensuring safe and healthy workplaces–as third party accompanying OSHA inspectors will be able to redirect attention to their own agendas. The rule also will put OSHA inspectors in the middle of labor disputes and organizing drives and force them to police the behavior of these representatives who are pursuing their own goals. The rule is short on guidance for how to implement the changes and protect the inspection process. Moreover, it violates workers’ right to choose their own representation by allowing a single employee to choose representation for the entire workforce.

These are serious flaws that will do a disservice to OSHA and its mission of ensuring workplace safety and health. CWS strongly urges Congress or the courts to nullify this rule.”

CDW:
“OSHA’s final rule allows individuals with an agenda against the employer - including unions that have not convinced the workers to obtain their representation - to infiltrate the workplace and obtain proprietary information or information about the employer and/or workers.

The rule provides no clarity for how OSHA safety and health officers are supposed to determine if a chosen representative should be allowed to participate in the inspection. Moreover, there’s no limit to the number of representatives that can participate, meaning multiple unions trying to organize a workplace could be permitted access. OSHA inspectors will be forced into a position to police these representatives’ behavior, which could include intentionally disrupting the workplace and instigating dysfunction.

The rule puts OSHA safety and health officers in the middle of labor disputes and organizing drives, which they simply are not prepared for. OSHA was misguided in pursuing this rulemaking, and the courts will most assuredly have an opportunity to strike it down.”

The final rule becomes effective May 31; click here to review the final rule, OSHA FAQ and OSHA press release. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.